5 Week Intensive Organic Gardening Workshop at The Funny Farm

We still have space available for our yearly workshop which starts on Sunday Feb. 2nd.
Here are the details. Click this link to register.  http://2014organicgardeningworkshop.eventbrite.com

5 Week Intensive Organic Gardening Workshop
W/ Duane Marcus
Taking Control of Your Food!

This is a hands-on workshop. Learn how to use earth-friendly, organic techniques to grow delicious, nutrient-dense food for yourself and your family.

• Week 1 - Organic Gardening Foundations - Soil Food Web, composting, nutrient dense food and nutrient cycling
  Week 2 - Garden planning- what to plant, when to plant it and how to plant it
  Week 3 - Seed starting, soil preparation, cover crops, transplanting
  Week 4- Pest control strategies - putting Mother Nature to work to control insects, diseases and weeds. Insect i.d., biological controls
  Week 5 -Permaculture Strategies in your garden- Food forests, culinary & medicinal herbs, edible landscapes, rainwater harvesting, perennial foods

  The classes will be every other Sunday from 1 - 4 p.m. Class dates are Feb. 2nd, 16th, Mar. 2nd, 16th, Mar. 30th.
  Each class will be divided between classroom work and work in the garden
  The cost for the workshop is $300.00. Class is limited to 12 students
   Online registration http://2014organicgardeningworkshop.eventbrite.com
  or mail a check payable to Robin Marcus to 4459 Allgood Springs Dr. Stone Mountain, Ga 30083
  For further information-  email duanemarcus@mac.com
  or call 770-527-0395
  Classes meet at The Funny Farm 4459 Allgood Springs Dr. Stone Mountain, Ga 30083 30 minutes from downtown Atlanta

My Manifesto for 2013

This is my operations manual for 2013.

Raw Beet Salad - not a recipe per se

I frequently am asked to share recipes for the dishes I mention on my various social media outlets. I am happy to share, however I am not a recipe developer (never knew there was such a person before twitter). I have read that the key to being a successful restaurant chef being able to make a dish taste exactly the same every time. That is not my goal. My cooking style is much more improvisational. I rarely make the same dish the same way twice. Much of the time i create dishes from unsold vegetables we bring home from our markets. Also I can walk outside and harvest from a dozen or more fresh herbs to use in whatever I am making at the time. We also ferment our own kim chee and pickles which i frequently use as well.
My goal is to make something delicious and as nutritious as possible. Today a twitter friend asked me to share my recipe for raw beet salad since he has more beets than he knows what to do with. Here a guide to making it. I encourage y'all to be creative. Improvise with what you have on hand. You really can't go wrong when using fresh, organic, home grown or locally grown ingredients. That is what you use right?

Raw Beet Salad - Ratios

2 Parts (2 cups) raw beets grated or finely diced
1 Part (1 cup) raw carrots grated or finely diced
1/4 part (1/4 cup) leeks, or shallots or scallions or onion finely sliced
1 Tablespoon of fresh dill or parsley or lemon thyme or all three. finely chopped

Garlic Miso Dressing
1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon miso or tamari
4 cloves garlic - finely diced
salt to taste if needed. (miso can be salty)

 put in a bowl and whisk until thoroughly blended.

Serve over a bed of arugula or lettuce or finely chopped kale.

Our Food Forest is Coming into its Own

When we first started the Funny Farm we brought with us many plants from our former community garden that became the beginning of our food forest. Louisiana Purple fig, nanking cherry, pomegranate, apples, blackberries, bay laurel. and a host of herbaceous perennials ringed the perimeter of the front garden. Each of the last 4 years we have continued to add new trees, shrubs, vines, tubers and herbs either by propagating what we have or purchasing from local growers.

The first year we moved some figs to new locations and propagated more by layering.

3 years ago we added blueberries and sunchokes. Next were the plums and additional apples. This past year we planted persimmons, asian pears, apricots, more blueberries, grapes, rhubarb, and Tiawanese sour oranges. We dug up some volunteer nanking cherry seedlings and put them in pots to grow out so we can add more of these favorites to the forest.

Comfrey in bloom

I am taking a year long herbal medicine workshop now so we have begun to add more perennial medicinal plants into the mix. Valerian, angelica, feverfew and comfrey are happily growing now. I have goji berry seedlings growing in pots that i plan to plant in our hugulkultur bed. (more on this experiment later). I have learned that I have lots and lots of medicine already growing throughout the garden. We have been harvesting and making medicine from them regularly.

Blueberries

This spring the nanking cherry produced a bountiful harvest. We are now harvesting some gigantic precocious Louisiana Purple figs that weigh 1/4 lb. each are are so delicious. We have been enjoying daily treats of blueberries and yogurt for the first time this year. The blackberries are just beginning to ripen. Our apples are still a year or 2 away from production, however there are a few fruits on one of the trees that we hope to be eating this summer. The plums have grown well and may start to produce next year if the weather cooperates. These days we are thankful for any harvest we are blessed with.

Pomegranate in bloom

 Now will need to take a step back and assess the garden to see what and where we can add more multi-purpose plants to increase our yields from this wonderful thing called a food forest.

Food is Medicine : On Making Beet Soup

My FB friend Larry asked the other day if i would share my recipe for the beet soup i mentioned in my status update. I would be happy to share it with him but the problem is that i do not use recipes. I plan our meals based on what we purchased at our farmers market and what vegetables we did not sell. I come up with an idea for the meal during the day and put it together on the fly, pulling from our pantry and garden various complementary herbs and spices, deciding on a cooking technique. Sometimes I have a plan the day before when i want to use a technique such as brining a cut of meat or preparing a soup.
My herbal medicine teacher recommended a book to us at our last class called Food As Medicine: The Theory and Practice of Food by Todd Caldecott. As soon as i got it i read it from cover to cover. It is based on Ayurvedic principles. I do not know much about Ayurveda yet but i do believe food is indeed medicine and using food is the best way to restore and maintain optimum health. Since i have begun my journey back to optimal health I have started creating vegetable soup stocks that are based on concepts i have learned in my classes on herbal medicines. My goals for my stock are as follows:

1. Provide the full complement of mineral nutrients we need. The food most of us eat today does not necessarily do that as a result of major the depletion of minerals in the soils in which it is grown. Of course here at The Funny Farm we go to great lengths to make sure our food is nutrient dense.
2. Promote good digestion. If our digestive system is not functioning properly then we are not able to fully extract the nutrients we consume. I learned from the multitude of tests i had done at Progressive Medical Center that my digestive system was not working optimally so i want to enhance that.
3. Promote detoxification in our bodies. We constantly intake toxins, chlorine and who knows what else in the water, particulates in the air, harmful chemicals such as BPA in packaging and crap from many other sources. While we are working on eliminating those sources from our lives as much as possible, poisons are pretty much unavoidable in today's world. We have to insure that our excretory systems, the liver, kidneys, lungs, bowels and skin are working well.
4. Counter the mostly inevitable effects of aging. As we age, the physiological functions of our bodies slow down as a result of life long stresses and oxidation. Many of the ingredients in this stock, while acting on specific organs and or systems, also act as adaptogens.  Adaptogens help to restore balance to all the systems and help us adapt to stress.
5. Taste good. If the stock tasted like crap we would not use it making all of the above irrelevent.

Here is the formula for my medicinal stock.

Vegetable Stock Ingredients
3 Qt. water
2 Tbs. turmeric
2 Tbs. cumin seed
6 fresh bay leaves
1 4x4 sheet kombu seaweed- torn into small pieces
1 handful wakame seaweed
1 whole organic onion w/ skin- quartered
1 whole head organic garlic broken into cloves- skin intact
1 fresh dandelion root- chopped
3 - thumb sized pieces ginger- chopped
3 - 6" sprigs fresh rosemary
½ C. fresh oregano
¼ cup live (Braggs) apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. black pepper
3 tsp. sea salt

Combine all ingredients in a stock pot. Heat until the water just starts to simmer. DO NOT BOIL. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 12-24 hours. Allow to cool. Strain and pour into glass  containers. I use quart canning jars. Use immediately, freeze or refrigerate for later use (within a few days).

Benefits of each ingredient:
turmeric - anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, reputed to lower bad cholesterol
cumin seed - anti-oxidant, anti-microbial, stimulates digestion, anti-congestive
bay leaves - promotes digestion, anti- congestive, increases good cholesterol
seaweeds - over 60 micronutrients our bodies need that we might not be getting from our food due to soil de-mineralization. Anti-inflammatory, boosts circulation, detoxifying, enhances thyroid function.
onion - anti-oxidant, thins blood, lowers blood pressure
garlic - anti-microbial, anti-oxidant, expectorant, lowers blood pressure, stimulates digestion
dandelion root - promotes liver and gallbladder function, detoxifying, stimulates digestion
ginger - stimulates digestion, expectorant, anti-inflammatory, circulatory stimulant, anti-oxidant, anti-microbial
rosemary - circulatory stimulant, anti-depressant, anti-microbial, stimulates digestion, anti-oxidant, strengthens memory, promotes liver and gallbladder function
oregano -  anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, expectorant, anti-oxidant, blood thinner
live apple cider vinegar - adds beneficial gut flora, anti-microbial, kidney stimulant, balances pH in the body
black pepper - anti-oxidant, digestive stimulant, diuretic
sea salt - adds many essential minerals


How i use the stock:
Soup or stew. I use 1 quart as the base for soups. I dilute it with another quart of water and add what ever ingredients i have available i.e. sausages or left over chicken, legumes such as lentils or beans, grains such as brown rice or quinoa and vegetables such as beets, carrots, turnips, onions and greens.

I also put a quart in the refrigerator and i drink a cup in the mornings as a daily tonic. Sometimes i add some mushrooms if i have them and/or miso which adds beneficial gut bacteria and lots of additional nutrients.


So Larry, here is my recipe for Beet soup :)


1 large onion diced and sauteed in olive oil. I do this in the soup pot before adding the other ingredients
5-6 small beets and their greens, washed and chopped
1 bunch turnips and their greens, washed and chopped
2 breakfast sausages chopped
1 qt. vegetable stock
1 qt. water

After saute´ing the onion add the remaining ingredients and simmer until the the roots are tender. A couple of hours ought to do it. This soup only gets better with age. We eat it for dinner, lunch the next day and finish it off for breakfast the 3rd day.
Deellliiissshhuuusssss! and nutttriiiishhhuuuuss too!

Bibliography
Adaptogens: Herbs for Strength, Stamina and Stress Relief by David Winston and Steven Maimes
Herbal Therapy and Supplements by Merrily A. Kuhn and David Winston
Medical Herbalism: The Science and Practice of Herbal Medicine by David Hoffman
The Herbal Medicine Makers Handbook by James Green

Blessed More Than Usual Today

Each morning i wake up i feel blessed because, you know, one morning i will not wake up. Then i walk out onto the back screen porch and there is Robin drinking her coffee while she checks out the goings on in what she refers to as Cinderellaland. A myriad birds are flitting about chirping and singing, chipmunks, squirrels, bunnies and an occasional neighbor cat are cavorting in the garden. I am pretty sure this picture is the one she had in her head when she named it Cinderellaland. Well, she does claim to have the memory of a rhinoceros. Having the honor of being married to Robin for 38 years is the greatest blessing of my life, of course, but not the point of this story.

After she left for work, I made my rounds, watering the seedlings, checking on my little friends i planted yesterday and making a plan for today's work. I always love this third week of April when the garden gets transformed from horizontal to vertical. I pounded in a bunch more stakes in the front garden and planted more tomatoes, anticipating the delicious mater sandwiches in my future. (oh, crap, I recently found out i have a gluten allergy. Oh, well i have plenty of time to find a good gluten free bread recipe. Anyone have one to share?)

I moved on to planting more zucchini and yellow squash, trying to get ahead of the daggone squash vine borers. As i was planting i heard voices on the street. It sounded like they were talking about oregano. I looked up and saw 2 women walking by. The shorter one had long grey hair pulled back in a pony tail, wearing a long white dress. The taller one had salt and pepper hair pulled into a bun, wearing a long dark skirt. Both were carrying nice rustic looking walking sticks. Most people who walk around here carry sticks of some kind. I assume they are protection against the dogs that run loose from time to time.

As i looked at them they noticed me and the shorter one immediately turned around and headed towards the driveway. The taller one waved and asked if they could see the garden. By the time I waved them in the shorter one was already halfway down the drive. We introduced ourselves and the shorter one started asking questions? Is that okra? no it's beets going to seed. Do you grow comfrey? No not yet, but i want to. Well. i have some i can give you she said. Then she asked, did i know comfrey will shrink cancerous tumors? She said she had breast cancer and she cured herself with comfrey.

We walked through the garden, sampling the arugula, their favorite they said. They pointed to some greens and asked what they were. I said they were komatsuna greens. Oh, Japanese, my friend here is Japanese. Then she told me a story about a man she new who has stomach ulcers so bad that the doctor recommended he have his stomach removed. She said she told him if he did that he would be dead in a year and that he would live longer if he did nothing. Then she told him to collect violet flowers and leaves, blend them with water and drink as much of it as he could every day. She said he was a truck driver and she did not see him again for a long time. Then one night around 11:30 he knocked on her door. She opened it and her told her he wanted to thank her for saving his life. He said the violet juice cured his stomach ulcers and he was fine now.

It was the that i realized that this woman was a skilled herbal healer. We continued our tour of the garden, pointing out the newly planted valerian and calendula. She told her friend that calendula was a very potent herb. She expressed her love for clover saying it was a good tonic for the liver. I told her about the herbal medicine class i am taking with Patricia Howell. She asked did she live nearby because she wanted to meet her. I told her i would try to arrange a meeting. We continued our walk as she pointed out plants to her friend, stating their uses, lemon balm, bee balm, yarrow, yellow dock.

I told them about our farmers market and they were really excited because the were both vegan and were looking for a source for fresh organic vegetables. I wrote down the directions to the market along with my contact information. They said they would come to the market tomorrow.
We exchanged names again. The Japanese lady is Tomika. The shorter lady said her name is Dulce. She said she was hispanic and her name means "sweet" in Spanish. I told them they were welcome to visit any time and to feel free to stop by and look around even if i am not there. I really look forward to seeing them both again. Nothing like being able to learn the wisdom of our elders.
Sweet :)

Bug Drawings : A Pattern Language

I came across a log this morning while building a hugulkultur bed (more about that in another post). It was covered in markings made by beetles feeding on the cambium layer just inside the bark. At least I think they were made by beetles.

The markings are very beautiful. They look like runes or glyphs, a language i am unable to decipher. I got the feeling that there is a message for me on this log. I just have to figure out how to learn the language.

State of The Funny Farm - March 6th, 2012

The front garden is a'bloom and a'buzz

Many seeds have been planted

Beets and carrots were harvested to make room for new crops

Compost is cooking

Seedlings are growing quickly

New greens have sprouted

Logs have been harvested for inoculation with reishi spawn

Pea Shoots - Delicious, Nutritious and Easy to Grow

I began experimenting with growing pea shoots a few years ago as a transitional crop to bridge the gap between the last of the winter greens and new spring crops. I buy dwarf gray sugar peas, garnish type, from Johnnys Seeds. A 5 lb. bag costs $17.60. I can sow about 8 flats with 5 lbs. of seeds and sell they for $12.00 per flat. Pretty good ROI.

It took several attempts to work out the kinks in my method. This is how i do it.

• I use standard web trays lined with landscape fabric to keep the soil from running out the bottom. Newspaper would work as well.
• I fill the trays half way with my standard worm casting and granite sand seed starting mix. I sprinkle 2 cups of pea seeds evenly over the surface and press them firmly into the soil. I used to cover them with soil but i found that because the seeds are so close together they would push up large masses of soil which were hard to deal with.
• I water them thoroughly.
• I place them on the table under the grow light and cover the trays with plastic to retain moisture. The grow light provides heat that encourages germination. When the weather is warmer i place them in the hoop house. I check them daily and water when needed to keep the seeds moist.
• They will germinate in about 7- 10 days at which time I remove the plastic.
• They will be ready to harvest in about 3 more weeks when the shoots are 3-4 inches tall. If i cut them off above the first couple of leaves i can sometimes get enough regrowth for another harvest.

Packed with vitamins A^[1], C^[2] and folic acid^[3], Pea Shoots are a delicious, nutritious modern slant on the classic British garden pea. Lyndel Costain, B.Sc.RD, award winning dietitian and author of Super Nutrients Handbook, says, “Pea Shoots are a nutritious leaf with high levels of vitamin C and vitamin A. A 50g bag of these tasty greens offers more than half of the RDA for vitamin C, a quarter of the RDA for vitamin A and significant amounts of folic acid. It is great news that this healthy and simple to prepare British vegetable leaf is readily available to consumers.”
source - peashoots.com

That's it! Easy peasy :)

Keep on Growing: A Week in the Life ...

Last was busy and productive here at The Funny Farm. The week started on Monday, Martin Luther King Holiday, with a trip to Truly Living Well Wheat St. Organic farm to do some volunteer work. The farm is literally in the shadow of the King Center for Non-Violent Change where there were lots of activities to honor Dr. King that day. After working in the garden my friends and i ate lunch at a nearby restaurant, Noni's, where we had a nice meal featuring locally sourced ingredients. We enjoyed a bloody mary, or 2, garnished with pickled veggies made by our bartender. We returned to the King Center to watch the parade and show our support for Occupy Atlanta which had a large contingent of marchers.

Tuesday i spent the day acquiring the last of the materials i need to finish building the cover over Craven, the cob oven.

Wednesdays are market days for us at the Decatur Farmers Market. We harvested in the morning and headed to the market. In spite of the cold and wind we sold all of our vegetables. When we returned home that evening we were greeted with a surprise package! A box packed full of fruit trees, shrubs and vines from our friends at Johnson Nursery in Ellijay, GA. Woohoo!!!

Thursday i went to Progressive Medical Center for a physical exam, my first in a few years. They practice integrative medicine. They use the latest diagnostic methods to determine the underlying causes of dis-ease and employ the most appropriate methods to restore their clients to optimal health. Their staff includes M.D.'s. naturopaths, dietitians, acupuncturists, massage tharapists and chiropractors. I will be writing more about my journey to restore and heal my body and spirit in future posts.

Thursday afternoon i added to our food forest asian pears, asian persimmons, almond trees, blueberries and muscadines.

Friday morning I spent harvesting for Saturday's market. In the afternoon a young couple came by for a farm tour. Matt had emailed me the week before to ask if he and Melissa could come by on their return journey from Florida to their home in Virginia. We had a nice time discussing the work we do at the Funny Farm and their plans to do something similar in Virginia. I find it very gratifying that people are interested in seeing what we are doing and I love to share our knowledge and experience. Good Luck Matt and Melissa :)

Saturday morning i headed to market where we endured a deluge of rain and some scary lightning. We have some very dedicated customers at our market so we were able to sell a few things before we gave in and called it quits. After i got warm and dry the rain stopped and i went out to the garden to practice with my new camera. I had a great time and produced a few images that made me happy.

Sunday morning i got a lot of seeds planted in flats and into the hoop house. Spring will be here before you know it. In the afternoon i prepared a delicious Bourbon Beef Stew using the grassfed beef i purchased from Tink's Grassfed Beef at the market the day before. Robin and i both agreed it was the best stew we had ever eaten.

Today i am wrapping up a few things before my trip to Arizona. I am so ready to spend some time with my close friends communing with the desert and restoring my mind, body and spirit.

I will holla at y'all next week upon my return.

Oh, and I get to mark a few goals off my list.

Keep on Growing!!!

101 Goals in 1001 Days- Funny Farm Style

I first discovered the meme at the beginning of last year. My friend Lara started her list then and has been steadily completing goals throughout the year and sharing her experiences along the way on her blog Food. Soil. Thread.
She has accomplished some really cool things which has inspired me to start my own list. Making the list was harder than i anticipated. It has taken me 2 weeks to create a meaningful list. I want the goals to be SMART goals for the most part.

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• Timely

For the most part they are. Some will need more work to make them measurable. I believe they are all attainable and they are certainly relevant to me. The meme itself places the time constraint on their completion.

I consider this a living document, subject to refinement, updates, changes and so forth. It has certainly helped me focus on making the best use of my time and energy so far this year. With regular review i know i will make good progress on completing these goals.

Oh, look! I can mark the first one off my list :)
Goals with red type have been completed. Goals with green type are in progress.

1. Use the word "meme" correctly in a sentence.
2. Build a smoke house.
3. Travel to another country 2 times.
4. Visit the desert 3 times.
5. Set up our vegetable processing station in the basement.
6. Establish a regular yoga practice.
7. Stop smoking cigarettes.
8. Write and publish a book.
9. Publish 3 articles in a national magazine.
10. Set up a grey water system to use to water the garden.
11. Increase our rain water harvesting capacity 3 fold.
12. Get a new roof on the house.
13. Get solar panels on our roof.
14. Clean out and organize the barn.
15. Acquire a ceremonial rattle from a rattle maker.
16. Clear out and organize the basement.
17. Go to an Acres USA conference.
18. Write a blog post at least once a month.
19. Learn to bake good bread in the cob oven.
20. Finish the root cellar.
21. Get a new warm coat.
22. Learn to play my recorder.
23. Go hiking in the mountains 12 times.
24. Get the water in our pond tested.
25. Get hearing aids.
26. Have different friends over for dinner every 2 months.
27. Regularly attend Atlanta Herbalist Guild meetings.
28. See live music at least 4 times a year.
29. Learn to make sausage.
30. Learn to make pasta.
31. Secure the chicken house and get new chickens.
32. Build a top bar bee hive and start a colony.
33. Build a duck house and get ducks.
34. Get a freezer.
35. Get a half of a hog.
36. Host a pig roast.
37. Get a half of a goat.
38. Plant 10 more fruit trees.
39. Learn the identity of 5 new birds.
40. Collect wild chanterelle mushrooms.
41. Make miso.
42. Set up a meditation room in the den.
43. Paint my bedroom.
44. Plant a few Camellia sinensis.
45. Ferment tea leaves from said plant.
46. Make yogurt monthly.
47. Make kim chee 4 times.
48. Move our bank account to a credit union.
49. Get a massage.
50. Participate in a sweat lodge ceremony with a native American tribe.
51. Practice drawing weekly.
52. Build a rocket stove.
53. Build another cob oven somewhere.
54. Build 2 cold frames.
55. Make a hugelkultur bed.
56. Build a grape arbor.
57. Use the bricks I collected to pave the gathering space.
58. Sell the trailer we don't use.
59. Get a physical examination.
60. Organize my tools.
61. Make a video about the funny farm.
62. Get Funny Farm tee shirts made.
63. Get the garage doors fixed.
64. Organize the garage.
65. Get rid of all the stuff I don't need.
66. Eat less salt.
67. Take better care of my health.
68. Get a physical exam yearly.
69. Organize my seeds and keep them organized.
70. Get a new laptop.
71. Learn how to use my new camera well.
72. Develop a new business venture so Robin can work at home.
73. Organize my digital photos.
74. Teach a gardening class for kids.
75. Let go of my anger and live a life full of love, compassion and empathy.
76. Participate in a week long trance dance.
77. Increase our fruit and vegetable production by 10% this year.
78. Recycle all our electronic stuff.
79. Re-read Carlos Castenada's books.
80. Read 3 science fiction novels a year.
81. Make a cheesecake topped with fresh fruit from our garden.
82. Build a structure with a green roof.
83. Get the composting toilet working again.
84. Grow and sell $2500 in flowers at market this season.
85. Hang my Tibetan prayer flags.
86. Get new gutters.
87. Give the clothes I don't wear to someone in need.
88. Take a trip on a bus.
89. Grow comfrey.
90. Plant American lotus in the pond.
91. Practice drumming weekly.
92. Take the Annabel to the mountains.
93. Go to the beach.
94. Take a trip on a train.
95. Do some volunteer work.
96. Start a personal seed bank.
97. Try eating acorns.
98. Take an herbal medicine workshop.
99. Teach a canning and preserving workshop.
100. Build a coldframe.
101. Grow olives.

Cob Oven Update #5 - She's Hot!

Yesterday i could not stand it any more so i built a fire in Craven, have i mentioned her name is Craven?, with the intention of baking some pizzas. I must say I was a bit apprehensive about getting her all hot and bothered. For all i knew she could totally collapse in a heap of mud... or explode into a million pieces. I built a fire out of old pallet wood and kept it blazing for 2 hours which i figured would be good enough for cooking a couple of pizzas. The fire door worked great at promoting good air flow while allowing easy feeding and tending of the fire. I used the blow pipe a couple of times to rev up the flames.

As darkness fell it decided it was now or never. I assembled the pizzas and (attempted) to put them in the oven :-p It was at this point that I began to learn a few things about cob oven in general and this oven in particular.

This is What I Learned:

1. I need a proper peel- sometimes DIY is just not worth it. I found a restaurant supply on line from which i can get one for under $10.00. Ordering it next.
2. Use a flat surface on which to assemble the pizzas - a cookie sheet with a lip does not allow one to effectively slide the peel under the pizza without messing it up.
3. Do not put too many toppings on said pizza - they fall off with handling.
4. Calzones are easier to handle that pizzas - and taste just as good.
5. It takes a lot of foreplay to get Craven really hot - 2 hours of firing was not enough to heat her enough to even cook pizzas properly. I am guessing 3 hours minimum and 4 hours + to getter her hot enough to make buns in the oven, i mean, bake loaves of bread. This suggests that the abundant thermal mass in this oven will retain heat for a long time once it finally reaches maximum temperature.
6. I need to start stockpiling lots of firewood - i have enough for probably one good firing. I am going to keep my eye open for construction sites, few and far between in this depressed economy. and start cutting brush around here that we've been planning to do for a while now.

While we did have to finish the pizza and calzone for a few minutes in the oven, they tasted great. Smokey, with a nice bottom crust. I look forward to the next time we get to fire her up!

Cob Oven Update #4 - Tools of the Trade

The oven is essentially finished. After she dries out well i will put the final coat of plaster on her. She is about ready for her maiden voyage into baking though. i built a test fire in her last week and she breathes very well.

I have been making the tools i will need for the firing and cooking while i wait for her to dry out a little more.

These are the tools of the trade:

This the rough form of a peel. It will be used to place loaves of bread and pizzas in the oven and peel them out when they are finished baking.








This is called a scuffle. i made it from a paint roller extension pole, a nail, some copper wire and an old cotton sock. It will be wetted and used to swab out the remaining bits of ash in the oven before the loaves go in. The moisture left in the oven turns to steam and helps to create a nice chewy crust.







This tool is the rooker. It is used to scrape the coals and ashes out of the oven before the baking begins. I connected an ell bracket to a watering wand with a couple of screws to make this fine tool.









This precision tool is an oxygen delivery tube a.k.a. blow pipe. I will be used like a bellows to blow air into the fire to keep it burning evenly. I smashed the end of a 1/2" copper tube with a rubber mallet to flatten it out to provide a wide focused flow of air to the fire.







This is a fire door I fashioned out of a piece of aluminum flashing, a couple of ell brackets and a piece of copper wire. It serves as a temporary chimney improving the draft in the oven especially on windy days. Cool air flows into the oven along the floor and circulates up the the top of the oven and out the top of the door. When the wind blows the flow becomes turbulent and the wood does not burn efficiently. The fire door deflects the wind keeping the fire burning efficiently thus using less fuel to heat the oven.



This is the baking door. It is made out of cob with a piece of bamboo for a handle. Right now the damn thing weighs about 40 lbs. Hopefully when it dries out it will weigh a good bit less because it is very difficult to handle right now. It should keep the heat in well though.

We are very excited to fire her up and bake something soon. With the holidays fast approaching it may be next year before we try her out.

Cob Oven Update #3 - The Key to Cob is Community

Saturday before last the permaculture class came out to the Funny Farm to work on the cob oven. There were 14 of us all working together to make it happen. I gave a brief orientation about how a cob oven works, what the various layers are made of and where we stood in the process. We then divvied up the various task and got to work.

One group worked on the sand dome that would support the cob that forms the inside of the oven and is the layer that will absorb and retain the heat for cooking. 2 other groups started mixing and stomping the sand/clay mixture to make the cob. It was very exciting to experience how quickly we gelled into an efficient team to get the job done. Within and hour and a half we had completed the sand dome and applied the first layer of cob. Thanks to Brandy and Keri for bringing their group out the help.







Sunday i cut out the door opening and then took a break from cobbing to let my weary body recover. Cobbing is hard work :) And fun work too!

On Monday my friend Deanna came out to help me apply the next layer, the insulation layer. We built a large lip of structural cob around the door opening to support and contain the insulation. We mixed together clay slip (screened clay and water) and wheat straw and layer it over the whole surface of the oven in a 3-4" thick layer. This layer is not packed down so there will be air pockets that prevent the heat from being conducted out of the inner cob layer to the outside surface. After Deanna left i began to sculpt some of the features that will give the oven a Funny Farm flair. I added an eyebrow, an eye and the upper lip.

On Friday i covered the insulation layer with a layer of structural cob, clay/sand/straw. The straw acts like rebar giving the cob shear strength.

Yesterday i did some more sculpting using up the remaining cob i made on Friday. I added a lower lip and one cheek. I have determined that the oven is a female. Someone on Facebook asked me what her name is. She has not revealed that to us yet. All in its own time.

If the weather is good tomorrow i will finish up sculpting the rest of her features. After that we will let her dry until after the end of the year before we put the final plaster coat on her. This Sunday we will probably build a small fire in her to see how well she breathes and because i can't stand to wait any longer.

We are so excited about having fresh bread and other yumminess cooked in our own mud oven in the foreseeable future!

Register now for Our 5 Week Organic Gardening Workshop Starting in February

5 Week Organic Gardening Workshop W/ Duane Marcus

This is a hands-on workshop. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced gardener wanting to convert from conventional to organic methods, whether you have a sunny townhouse patio or a 3 acre lot, this class will put you on the path to taking control of your food future.

Week 1 - Organic Gardening Foundations - Soil Food Web, composting, nutrient dense food and nutrient cycling
Week 2 - Garden planning- what to plant, when to plant it and how to plant it
Week 3 - Seed starting, soil preparation, cover crops, transplanting
Week 4- Pest control strategies - putting Mother Nature to work to control insects, diseases and weeds. Insect i.d., biological controls
Week 5 -Permaculture Strategies in your garden- Food forests, growing edible mushrooms, edible landscapes, rainwater harvesting, perennial foods

The classes will be every other Sunday from 1 - 4 p.m. starting Sunday Feb. 5th. Class dates are Feb. 5th, 19th, Mar. 4th, 18th, Apr. 1st.

Each class will be divided between classroom work and work in the garden

The cost for the workshop is $300.00. Class is limited to 10 students

Online registration http://organicgardeningwkshp.eventbrite.com/
or mail a check payable to Robin Marcus to 4459 Allgood Springs Dr. Stone Mountain, Ga 30083

For further information- email duanemarcus@mac.com

Classes meet at The Funny Farm 4459 Allgood Springs Dr. Stone Mountain, Ga 30083 30 minutes from downtown Atlanta

Cob Oven Update #2 - The Base is Complete and Ready for the Oven.

Today i finished the base for the cob oven.

The Insulation Layer
We want to retain as much heat in the thermal mass of the oven as possible. I made an insulation layer below the fire bricks that will be the bottom of the oven to keep the heat from being conducted into the oven base. The principle here is the same as with double paned windows. Air is a poor conductor of heat. First i placed empty bottles and jars on their sides. The insides of the bottles and jars are filled with air. Then I filled the spaces between them with a mixture of sand, clay and a good bit of straw with a little portland cement mixed in for strength. Straw is hollow so it is a poor conductor of heat as well.

The Final Layer That Will Support The Fire Brick.

I finished off the base with a 1 1/2" layer of structural cob which is just clay and sand in a ratio of 1 part clay to 2 parts sand. I determined the ratio by making test bricks a few days ago. I made same sized bricks using different ratios of clay to cob. 1:1, 1:2, and 1:3. I dried them in the oven using low heat. The 1:1 ratio brick shrank a lot. The 1:3 brick turned out deformed and slightly crumbly. The 1:2 ratio brick is perfect! That is the ratio we will use when we make the cob tomorrow.